female concubine

When the emperor returned to the palace, Wei Zongren, the king of Jianguo County, led his officials to Chenhui gate to pick him up.

"My lord, the King of Shouchun County invites you to be safe, and welcomes His Majesty back to the palace."

"Your Majesty is welcome back to the palace."

The chariot stopped for a while in front of Chenhui Gate and then set off again to enter the palace. The young man got up and stepped on the horse to follow beside the frame.

The imperial driver slowed down when he entered the forbidden area, Princess Fuqing lifted the curtain in the cab and said with a smile: "Brother."

The boy looked at his younger sister who poked her head out, "Is Daddy feeling better?"

Princess Fuqing turned her head, nodded immediately, climbed onto the car window and waved to her elder brother. Seeing this, the young man rode close, Princess Fuqing raised her hand to cover it, and said in a low voice, "Daddy is satisfied with brother. He was in the palace earlier. He also praises his brother every day."

The young man saw a serious and extremely clean face in the car through the gap in the car window, and his complexion returned to normal, so he tightened the reins in his hand.

The chariot stopped at the right sliding door in Sibei of the imperial city, and the emperor took the little princess down to transfer to the chariot. The young man hurriedly jumped off the horse and walked to the silver ladder. The emperor grabbed the young man's hand and walked down the silver ladder. Not a word was said.

When he carried the princess on the shoulders carried by the servants to the front and back court bifurcation roads in front of the inner east gate, the young man begged beside him: "Your Majesty, please go and see Your Majesty the Empress, because of my uncle's business, the empress has several I don’t close my eyes and refuse to eat.”

The emperor looked sideways at the Xuanyou Gate leading to the front court in the south, and immediately turned his head, "Go forward."

"Yes."

After passing through the Inner East Gate to Hantong Gate and arriving at Kunning Hall, the emperor handed Princess Fuqing to the young man, "Play with my brother for a while."

"it is good."

The noon sun in the Kunning Hall had already moved to the west, and the windows on the west were gradually getting light. Xiao Youqing looked at the outer courtyard with the window open, and the plum blossoms were about to bloom.

The emperor walked to the gate of the palace, and several palace people saw Shi Fushen, "Hush."

Hearing the sound of footsteps, her disturbed heart had already disturbed her thoughts. Apart from the panic, there was only the fear of loneliness. As the footsteps approached, the fear followed.

--Da--da--da-The raised hand in the light yellow robe opened the bead curtain and walked in, "Is the execution in the court over?" Looking at the lonely shadow under the light, the black leather shoes suddenly stood still, "Um."

"Uncle Guo asked me to announce the good news. His first wife, Lu Shi, gave birth to a son for him. He is not too small, very much like his father."

Xiao Youqing turned around, looked up for a while, then stood up and threw herself into the emperor's arms, wiping her tears onto the pale yellow skirt and complaining, "Officials are the most annoying people in the world."

The emperor put his hands on her and hugged her tightly, "I heard from Da Lang that my sister hasn't eaten properly in the past few days, is there such a thing?"

"He can't tell you anything."

"Even if he doesn't say it, can't I see that my sister has lost weight?" The emperor gently stroked her back, "I asked the sixth son to pass the meal to the imperial kitchen."

Xiao Youqing grabbed her skirt, "What about my brother?"

The emperor held her by the shoulders and wiped the corners of her eyes gently, "I have decreed a pardon, except for dismissal and confiscation of fame and titles, let him lead his troops to the border to guard the border, which can be regarded as an explanation to the soldiers."

At this point, Xiao Youqing breathed a sigh of relief, and continued to rub her clothes, "I don't have Weng Weng, Daddy can't lose my brother anymore." Xiao Youqing gradually raised his head, raised his hands tremblingly to caress the emperor's face with tears like rain, " And you."

The emperor took her hand in a deep breath, and rubbed it against his nose, "Don't worry, Sanniang, brother and I will never leave you, forever."

------------------------

After returning to the palace, the emperor summoned Xiao Xianfu, the founder of Xingyang County, in the Chuigong Hall.

"Erlang's fault caused the loss of the two northwestern states, and the death of several generals, all because of the lack of restraint by the ministers. Your Majesty's favor of not killing, the guilty ministers have no way to repay."

"When I came back from Sichuan in the past, he was the first person who had a festival. Therefore, I know what kind of person he is. He is young, energetic and reckless. I sent troops in a hurry. No wonder you generals." Standing up from his seat, he walked to Xiao Xianfu and helped him up, "Can Second Uncle talk to me about the Xixia side?"

"Yes."

"The first time I fought, I met Xixia's forward. Because I failed to confront the Xixia leader head-on, the danger of the Great Wall was easily crossed. Until I attacked Xiazhou, I couldn't attack for several days. At that time, I became suspicious. Our army was able to break through the natural barriers of the Great Wall, but it fell on a prefecture and county. General Cao said that the enemy was very likely to attack from east to west, so he asked for orders to lead troops with Yunze to attack from the southwest, and Xiazhou was breached within a few days. Then news came from the southwest that Lanzhou was lost. Only then did I understand what General Cao said. Xiazhou was easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it was far inferior to the danger of the Great Wall. The reason why our army can easily cross the Great Wall is that. ..Xi Xia intentionally, I sent Yun Ze to lead troops to rescue Xizhou. After capturing Xia Zhou, the enemy commander led troops out, and I confronted him once..." Xiao Xianfu paused, "Your Majesty, with The one you are fighting is the younger brother of the Yeli family, and the elder brother is the commander who designed to lure the enemy to kill the old general Cao and then seize the two prefectures of Lan and Xi. If these two are not eliminated, the land of Hexi may be difficult to obtain."

The emperor turned his back, put one hand on his waist, and broadened his forehead with the other, "We survived Wei Mu, and now we have another family?"

"Your Majesty is incompetent, please punish me."

"Knowing yourself and the enemy is the only way to be victorious in all battles. It is clearly me who is greedy for merit and advances aggressively. What has it to do with you?"

"His Majesty."

"Second uncle, step back and have a good rest."

"Yes." Xiao Xianfu stepped back and left.

The emperor walked back to the throne and sat down slowly, leaning on the armrest, "When I was in Xixia, I vaguely felt that those two brothers and even that family were not simple."

"It is said that people from other races are bold," Zipao walked out of Duo Hall, and slowly bowed towards the emperor, "I feel that people are all the same. They learn the etiquette of the Central Plains, but they are not bound by etiquette, so they can marry husbands and brothers." It is not uncommon for people to kill their wives and concubines.”

"If I want to take Xixia apart from my own strength, I have to find a way to disintegrate it from within."

"The officials are not saying that Li Yuanhao seems to be forbearing, but in fact he is cruel and suspicious by nature."

"If he wasn't suspicious, he wouldn't have caused the same thing as his own uncle's family. I suddenly remembered that the Yeli family was beautiful and extremely jealous." The emperor thought deeply.

"Li Yuanhao dotes on the beautiful Nori family, so maybe he is also a lecherous king," Han Si pondered along the emperor's words, "In addition, the current Queen Nakamiya Nori is jealous, and the officials can start from here."

The emperor shook his head, "Li Yuanhao is cautious, and now he is in Xixia to shave his hair, how can he still accept Han women..." The emperor was suddenly stunned, and immediately asked Han Bang, who knew the affairs of the Privy Council, "Now Are the two brothers of the Yeli family guarding the Xixia border?"

"Going back to the official house, my elder brother and younger brother have been named Ningling since the truce. The elder brother is known as King Yeli and was ordered to guard in Xiping Mansion, and the younger brother was named King of Tiandu. However, there is no trace of the younger brother. The news is that there are Xia troops in the southwest, and I speculate that my younger brother, King Tiandu, probably led troops to guard the northern part of Xixia to defend against the Northern Liao."

"I can't use Han women, so I thought of an old friend."

Han Bang blinked, "Are all the old friends of the official family women?"

"..." The emperor spread his hands, "She is the wife of my younger brother Yeli Qiyu, king of Tiandu, she is more beautiful than Queen Yeli, but she seems to have an unusual temperament, she is also courageous, and she is a strange woman with strange thoughts. " Immediately stood up with the chair supported, "I have to think of a way."

"Boldness is unusual..." Han Bo lowered his head and thought deeply, "If it is as the officials say, and she is the wife of the king of Tiandu, I can make a fuss about this woman."

"Make a fuss about women..." The emperor thought for a long time while rubbing his smooth chin, "I have thought of a method, but I need to be able to get in touch with Li Yuanhao, so the only way to do it is to trade again."

"For Guochao, the exchange market is far more out than in, and Xixia and Beiliao are extremely dependent on our dynasty for certain things. In the past few years of the exchange, the profits earned from Beiliao and Xixia accounted for [-]% of the tax revenue."

"Then make progress by retreating, let's relax and relax first, and the matter of the exchange market is still left to you."

"Yes."

"Zigu." The emperor called after Han Si left.

"Officials."

"Let Xixia's secret agents inquire about people and things." The emperor waved to him, and then whispered in his ear for a while.

Xue Jin was stunned for a moment, then crossed his hands and said, "Yes."

--------------------------------

In November of the ninth year of Qianyuan, on the eve of the winter solstice, Xiao Yunze got married and gave birth to an eldest son for him. The emperor returned to the palace to manage the government. Based on his meritorious deeds and the sacrifices of his father and ancestors for the country, he pardoned the death penalty and deprived him of all official positions and lords. , ordered to guard the frontier with the body of wearing a crime.

After Xiao Yunze went to thank his father-in-law's house, he took the infant child into the palace to thank him.

The nurse was holding the baby, Xiao Yunze knelt on the ground with a plop, and kowtowed heavily: "I have betrayed His Majesty's trust, to the point where the soldiers died in vain, to the loss of the two states of Hexi, and the people were displaced by the war, and I deserve death."

The emperor was about to get angry, but when he heard the cry of the baby, he remembered Lu's difficulty and Xiao Youqing's sadness, so he sighed and said: "I won't kill you because you still have a place to use your power. I hope you can live forever." Remember, your life was bought with the blood of General Cao and his soldiers."

Xiao Yunze knew that he was released and no one impeached him. Aside from being the heir apparent of the Xiao family, a large part of it was because he was the son-in-law of the left prime minister. One day, it will be repaid with death."

"You just came back from the sword, and now you are a father, so don't just say you're going to die. If you can serve the country and retire with your whole body, that's the perfect thing for a handsome man."

"Your Majesty's instruction, I will keep it in mind."

The baby next to him was crying all the time, but the sound was not very loud. The emperor saw that Xiao Youqing was silent, so he patted her hand sideways, and said to the nurse next to him, "Bring the baby here."

Under the emperor's signal, the wet nurse carried the child to Xiao Youqing, and when the several-pound swaddling baby just entered Xiao Youqing's arms, she stopped crying and gradually fell asleep peacefully.

The emperor smiled and said: "This doll looks very good, and she is not afraid of you."

Xiao Yunze scratched his head and said: "The first day of his life was dark, just like when His Highness was a child, the minister complained to his mother for a long time, saying why she gave me such an unattractive younger sister."

The elder brother's words made Xiao Youqing, who had always had a serious face, cover his mouth and smiled immediately, holding the child and looking at the always gentle emperor, he immediately asked his elder brother, "Has he chosen a name?"

Xiao Yunze shook his head, "Not yet, I originally wanted to wait until a hundred days, but I have the courage to ask His Highness to give you a name."

Xiao Youqing looked at the emperor after thinking for a while, "Let the officials get it for him."

The emperor stretched out his hand and lightly touched the baby's increasingly tender face, "Swallows are flying like birds, and their feathers are the same; sons are returning home, and they are sent away to the wild. Parents' beloved sons always look forward to them and don't want them to stay away. Call him Yangui."

"On his behalf, I thank Your Majesty for giving me the name."

The emperor looked at Xiao Yunze and said: "Treat your wife well, think about her more, don't let me down."

"Yes."